


It's Okay, Jemma

by onwardtoneverland



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 21:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2556122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onwardtoneverland/pseuds/onwardtoneverland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma feels a hand slide down her back over her shirt, and she jerks at the sensation. She looks up from her lap into Skye’s worried eyes. Skye offers the slightest, saddest upturn of her lips. She gathers Jemma into her arms; no questions of ‘what’s wrong’ or ‘are you okay’ leave Skye’s mouth. She gingerly sits on Jemma’s bed and holds her. </p>
<p>She clings to the material of Skye’s flannel shirt as Skye runs the palm of her hand up and down Jemma’s back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Okay, Jemma

_The walls of the room feel too close, too hard, too much. Fitz gazes at Jemma with love and sadness. Jemma hears the words Fitz says, but they sound distorted and distant._

  _“I couldn’t find the courage to tell you. So, please,” Fitz pauses; he takes a deep breath, and his voice cracks, “let me show you.” She won’t let Fitz do this; she can’t. She gathers Fitz into her arms without hesitation; tears well in her eyes, and she starts to cry._

  _“It’s okay, Jemma.” The words echo in the deep caverns of her mind. “No, no, no,” Jemma shakes her head. She pulls backward from the hug and starts pressing kisses around the expanse of Fitz’s face. She wants so badly to return his feelings, but she can’t. She only sees him as a friend, a brother. It doesn’t stop Jemma from feeling guilty nor does it quell her desire to get both of them out of this._

  _“Jemma…Jemma, we have to hurry.” No is the only word she can muster. “Take it.” Fitz shoves the air canister into her hands. He looks into her eyes. His eyes water in despair for the life he’s going to lose, but also in happiness for the notion that Jemma will live._

  _Fitz pushes the button, the defibrillator bursts, and the window burns hot and shatters. Water rushes unyieldingly into the room._

  _Jemma screams, “No!”_

***  
  


Jemma wakes with a start. Her eyes are filled with tears that spill down her cheeks. She furiously tries to wipe them away, but no use. She thinks back to the nightmare. _It’s okay, Jemma._ A new batch of tears flow from her, scalding her cheeks like fire, filled with the memories of the day that haunts her almost as much as the day she thought she lost Skye.

She pulls her knees up to her chest and tries to breathe normally. The blanket covering her knees becomes damp from her tears. The vision of Fitz standing there, shoving the breathing apparatus into her hands and pushing the button enters her mind once again. All she hears is the blast, then the rushing of water, and her own screams. She doesn’t register the opening of the door to her room.

Jemma feels a hand slide down her back over her shirt, and she jerks at the sensation. She looks up from her lap into Skye’s worried eyes. Skye offers the slightest, saddest upturn of her lips. She gathers Jemma into her arms; no questions of ‘what’s wrong’ or ‘are you okay’ leave Skye’s mouth. She gingerly sits on Jemma’s bed and holds her.

She clings to the material of Skye’s flannel shirt as Skye runs the palm of her hand up and down Jemma’s back.

***

 “Do you want to talk about it?” Skye’s quiet voice breaks the now silent room. Jemma hasn’t been crying for some time, but the nightmare still lingers.

She sighs and adjusts her body. Her head is resting in Skye’s lap, and Skye’s fingers gently comb through her hair. Once she feels comfortable on the mattress, she breathes deeply and whispers in a scratchy voice, “I had a nightmare about Fitz again.”

“Oh,” Skye sighs. Her fingers stop gliding through Jemma’s hair in favor of massaging her scalp. Jemma releases a breath of contentment, something she hasn’t been feeling much of lately, except when she’s with Skye. “I’m sorry, Jemma. I’m so sorry.” Skye chokes on the last word, and her fingers leave Jemma’s head.

Jemma sits up; she feels her eyes start to water, again. She crawls up the short distance to wrap Skye into her arms. Skye lets out a shaky breath; hesitantly, she says, “He’s going to be okay…right?”

“I—” Jemma loses her voice. The uncertainty creeps it’s way her head, and she doesn’t know. The doctors won’t tell her anything, and no one’s been allowed to visit Fitz in the mock hospital room they have him in. She settles for, “I hope so.”

Skye inhales deeply; she grasps the back of Jemma’s shirt harder, bunching the fabric into a wrinkled mess. Jemma squeezes back just as hard. She tries to press her body more firmly into Skye’s. Jemma hopes that whatever this is that their doing with one another will fill in the gaps and cracks they’ve both earned over the short expanse of time with the mess of HYDRA and Ward and everything else.

“Thank you.” Skye’s words echo in her mind, just like… _It’s okay, Jemma_ … She can’t let this destroy her. She’ll keep fighting; keep moving forward. She decides that she’ll try to find something, anything, to help Fitz, but for now she sits on her bed, wrapped in Skye’s arms. She lets the comfort seep into those invisible wounds, silently stitching them back together. Jemma wants Skye to feel that same relief. So, she does the one thing that is sure to get both of their minds off of the terrible, awful things that have happened in the past month.

Jemma releases her desperate grip on Skye, backs up just enough to look into Skye’s red-rimmed eyes, and she kisses her. Their lips slide against one another. Jemma sighs and Skye runs her fingers up Jemma’s arm to her neck and threads them into her hair. Jemma breaks their lips apart. She pulls her face back far enough to properly look into Skye’s eyes.

“I’m happy you’re here,” Jemma whispers. Her eyes ache. She sees the redness in Skye’s eyes, which droop in exhaustion. “We should probably—”

“Sleep. I know. I think so, too.” Skye nods her head, and Jemma smiles. She wonders how it could be possible that they’re so in sync. Skye returns the gesture with a small upturn of her lips; she adjusts her body under Jemma’s. Her open arms beckon Jemma to do the same. Jemma scoots down and settles her head down on Skye’s shoulder. Skye’s arms wind around Jemma, and Jemma lets one of her arms slide over Skye’s stomach. Jemma pulls herself closer to Skye; their legs entwine.

“Night,” Skye breathes against Jemma’s forehead. She presses gentle lips against the skin there.

“Goodnight, Skye.” Jemma sighs and tightens her grip on fabric beneath her palm. She hears the thrum of Skye’s heartbeat, feels the subtle rise and fall of her chest under her head. Jemma’s eyes close as she relaxes in the comfort Skye gives her. She no longer hears the screams or the rushing water or _It’s okay, Jemma_ ; all she hears amid the sweet silence is the soft, sleep-ridden breathing of the woman beneath her.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my version of the aftermath of episode 1.22.
> 
> A special thanks to my beta, faerieoftara!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are appreciated.


End file.
